Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers entering the United Kingdom from Sri Lanka have been registered in each of the last five years; by what routes they accessed the United Kingdom; and how many have received visas for entry to the United Kingdom as asylum seekers while in Sri Lanka.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: For the five year period 2008 — 2012, there were 7,445 asylum applications recorded from Sri Lankan nationals (not including dependants) of which 845 were made at a port of entry and 6,600 were made in-country. A further 1388 asylum applications from Sri Lankan nationals have been recorded between January — September 2013; 160 at a port of entry and 1,228 in-country.
	In terms of access to the UK, many asylum seekers from Sri Lanka enter holding a visa to either study in the UK or to be a visitor here while others enter clandestinely or with forged documents. None receive a visa for entry to the UK as an asylum seeker. As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UK fully considers all asylum applications lodged in the UK, but there is no obligation to consider asylum applications lodged abroad. Therefore no provision exists in the Immigration Rules for someone abroad to be given a visa permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum.

Burma

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of public expenditure on health in Burma; and whether they have made any representations to the government of that country about the matter.

Baroness Northover: DFID is working closely with the World Bank to implement a Public Expenditure Review, including detailed assessments of public expenditure for health and education. This is due to report in early 2014, and the results will be disseminated to the Ministry of Health.

Drugs

Lord Howarth of Newport: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 17 October (HL Deb, col 692), what actions they
	have taken with the G8 and the European Union to lead the international response to the threat from new psychoactive substances.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: At the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in 2012 and 2013, the UK sponsored resolutions on New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). Those resolutions led to the development of a global early warning system, which is enabling the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to monitor the problem at a global level for the first time.
	The Government has also utilised the UK Presidency of the G8 to help bolster the global response to NPS. An expert meeting was held in London in April, with G8 members and others publishing a Statement of Intent, which declared a collective commitment to, amongst other things, share data with the UNODC via its early warning system. A further meeting took place on 29th October to continue this focus and ensure an effective international response to NPS, including via engagement with the UNODC, World Health Organisation and the International Narcotics Control Board.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many enquiries made by employers to the Home Office employer checking service in 2012 received a response after more than (1) 7 days, (2) 14 days, and (3) 21 days.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information requested for the financial year 2012 -13 is not available in the format required and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Management information is only available for the number of dates Employer Checking Service (ECS) checks fell outside of service standards rather than the number of cases that fell outside service standards.
	However, between one April and 31 October 2013, all ECS checks were completed within the five working day service standard. The average time to complete a check in this period is 3.66 days.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total number of enquiries made to the Home Office employer checking service; and what proportion of those enquiries received a response in (1) 2009, (2) 2010, (3) 2011, and (4) 2012.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The total number of enquiries made to the Home Office employer checking service are:
	
		
			 Period No. of enquiries 
			 1 April 2009-31 March 2010 48,753 
			 1 April 2010-31 March 2011 42,101 
			 1 April 2011-31 March 2012 39,827 
			 1 April 2012-31 March 2013 57,179 
		
	
	All Employer Checking Service requests received a response. The figures provided are not national statistics but are based on provisional management information and may be subject to change.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the total number of enquiries made to the Home Office employer checking service in 2012 were answered (1) that the person had the right to be employed to do the job in question, (2) that the person did not have the right to be employed to do the job in question, and (3) that the Home Office could not confirm whether the person had the right to be employed to do the job in question.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office Employer Checking Service answers enquiries either confirming an individual's right to work or advising that it is unable to give such a confirmation. For the period 1 April 2012 to the 31 March 2013 the service provided 26,998 responses confirming an individual's right to work based on an outstanding application with the Home Office or a positive validation of a certificate of application or Application Registration
	Card . A further 15,451 responses advised that the Home Office was unable to confirm an individual's right to work.
	The figures quoted are not national statistics but are based on local management information and may be subject to change.

Syria

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Jordanians, Egyptians and Saudis are visiting Syrian refugee camps to buy young women; what action they are taking to prevent any such trade; and what access is being provided to international monitors to establish the circumstances in which young women are being removed from refugee camps.

Baroness Northover: The UK is greatly concerned about the risk of early and forced marriage among Syrian refugees. DFID is funding specialist programmes, such as that of International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Jordan, which are raising awareness and providing specialist care to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. This, and similar initiatives, are helping over 12,000 victims of sexual and gender based violence in Jordan alone. The UN has established an inter-agency taskforce to review the situation regarding forced and early marriage among refugees and develop a strategy to prevent and mitigate the consequences of such marriages. The UK is fully supportive of this work.